Credits: Article and images by Tim Mosso @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/12/21/breguet-classique-grande-complication-5317-reviewed-by-tim-mosso/
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The value part is easy; these retail for around $145,200 and sell used — in platinum! — for around 60 grand. The wonder, well, that reveals itself by degrees.
Despite its relative obscurity, the 5317 is a longstanding stalwart of Breguet’s high end collections, launching at Baselworld in 2005. Although bowing amid a decade that celebrated monster case dimensions and two, three, or even four tourbillon regulators per watch, the 39mm 5317 sports only one example of Breguet’s signature invention.
That said, this is a tourbillon done right. The bridge is brushed and micro-beveled at its edges, retained by cobalt blue fired steel screws, and fully rounded with specular finish bracketing the upper pivot. Dial-side execution on a modern tourbillon watch needs to be flawless, and this example is.
The rounded sink engulfing the upper tourbillon carriage pivot jewel is dished and mirrored with perfect symmetry. The tri-spoke tourbillon cage doubles as a second hand and exhibits the same virtuosity as the bridge, albeit on smaller components.
The free sprung regulator and overcoil hairspring — Breguet, of course — speak to its maker’s equal interest in timekeeping precision. As with most upper-shelf Breguet models, the 5317 includes a dial blank cut from a solid disc of 18-karat gold.
At least, that’s how the dial starts. Additional decoration calls attention to another overlooked virtue of Breguet-the-brand: guillochage. A collection of vintage straight-line and rose engines populate the Breguet factory in Le Sentier. They and their skilled operators are responsible for the guilloché patterns that define this manufacture’s house style.
Before elaborating, it’s worth emphasizing how many brands of all sizes do not make dials. Independents including H. Moser & Cie., Czapek, and Laurent Ferrier are open about not being able to craft these components without passing meaningful excess expenses to customers, and brands as large as Audemars Piguet and Vacheron Constantin continued to purchase dials at least into the last decade.
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Credits: Article and images by Tim Mosso @ Quill & Pad. See the original article here - https://quillandpad.com/2023/12/21/breguet-classique-grande-complication-5317-reviewed-by-tim-mosso/